New Delhi: Olympian Deriba Merga of Ethiopia set the course ablaze, clocking 59.15 minutes to set a new meet record and emerge as the fastest half marathon runner of the year in the fourth Airtel Delhi Half Marathon here today.

Deriba eclipsed Rwandan last year's champion Dieudonne Disi's timing of 60.43 minutes to bag a prize money of USD 25,000 prize money.

Kenyan Wilson Kipsang and Wilson Chebet finished second and third, clocking 59.16 and 59.34 minutes respectively, in the men's category to take home USD 15,000 and USD 10,000 respectively.

In the women's section, Ethiopian Aselefech Mergia emerged winner, registering her personal best timing of 68.17 minutes to pocket a prize money of USD 25,000. Mergia's compatriot Genet Getenet (68.18) finished second and Kenyan Peninah Arusei (68.20) finished third.

Among the Indians, Sandeep Kumar clocked 64.53 eclipsing last year's winner Ram Singh Yadav s timing of 66.09 minutes to pocket a prize money of USD 4000. Kashinath and Deep Chand clocked 64.58 and 65 minutes respectively to finish second and third in the men s section.

In the women's section, defending Indian champion Kavitha Raut retained her title for the second time, registering a personal best timing of 77.12 minutes.

Meanwhile, Preethi L Rao (77.20) and Sudha Singh (77.39) finished second and third to bag USD 3,000 and USD 2,000 respectively.

Winning the title, Deriba said he was happy and not at all surprised as he had his best preparation for the event.